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Locations in stories are another character.  I think they play important roles in stories because they can set the tone and the culture of the background. I chose a fictions town named Becker for my setting because I wanted it to be any town in Canada.  Becker is the last name of my piano teacher, someone important…… Continue reading locations in stories

For the most part, the rest of the characters in the story were a combination of people I needed to write the story and characters I remember in my life.  Kind of like a stew, a little of this and a little of that. And their names were almost all names of people that I wanted…… Continue reading creating other characters

Creating Irene was a different animal than Alice.  Because Irene is a different animal than Alice, almost polar opposite. There was no name that came to mind for her from the people of my life.  But Irene seemed to fit the person I created.  While Irene was the great goddess of peace, the Irene of my story was…… Continue reading creating Irene

Alice was an easy character to create.  That name is the name of my grandmother and her mother, is my middle name and my grandmother daughter’s as well.   She has been gone for over 35 years now but I remember her energy and smile as if she is still here.  She was a bling master, before bling…… Continue reading creating Alice

Books are a big part of my life – they continue to offer entertainment, information, and, at times solace.  They help me find my way.  Below are the books or patterns or anything else I refer to in my blog with a link to their author’s or creator’s website (where available). Gail Vaz-Oxlade Book -…… Continue reading things I have found

The interesting part about writing a story is creating characters.  As I watch them evolve on paper I always wonder where they come from – people I have experienced in my life, characters I have seen on TV, characters and traits that I would like to see in people, or characteristics that evolve as I write…… Continue reading creating characters

My observation of the week is that as I ease I create more easily. Does that make sense? I remember being a mom, a worker bee, a wife, an all round busy lady that I was tight. I let so many external things dictate me that I didn’t have time to just be me. In…… Continue reading easing

It’s time for an update on my book ‘A Mother’s Gift’, previously known as ‘Charlotte’s Story’. Many thanks to Teresa, Bonnie, and Maureen for their beta read of my book. Their input helped make it better than it was. I have passed through it another time and filled some holes and am now ready for…… Continue reading story time

I used to work in the gas station industry. Part of my initial role was to walk my sites and conduct a standards review. This was a comparison of our ideal of a station to what was before me. The list was extensive and detailed. It provided a deficiencies list that I could work on…… Continue reading personal standards

At long last I did it. I republished my first novel.   There were two reasons; one big and one small. First the small reason. A new friend who writes content for a living read the book, and offered her editorial changes. There weren’t many, thank goodness. After all, before publishing, I had read and…… Continue reading Why I republished A Mother’s Gift